Dan Quinn wasn’t the first head coach to lose a championship game in heartbreaking fashion. But after his Atlanta Falcons blew a 25-point lead to the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LI, Quinn received some sound advice from another head coach whose team coughed up a title.
Quinn has been open about the fact that he reached out to Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr and Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona a few weeks after the loss.
Kerr’s Warriors held a 3-1 lead in the 2016 NBA Finals before LeBron James and Kyrie Irving led the Cleveland Cavaliers on a historic comeback to give the Cavs their first NBA title in history.
And Kerr had some very thoughtful advice for how Quinn should deal with the devastating loss.
“I think certain games, certain losses, probably will stay with you forever,” Kerr said, per ESPN. “That loss will never leave Dan or any of those guys. But you know what? It’s life, and you go back to work the next day, and you go out to dinner with your family, or you go to your kid’s baseball game, or you go out to a movie with some friends, go to a bar, and you start living again.
“You’ve got to remember it’s not the end of the world, even though some people actually want you to feel like it is. But you can’t live your life that way. If you feel like it’s the end of the world, you’re not going to be very happy. So you pout, and you dwell on it for a while, and life goes on.”
That’s probably the best advice anyone could give Quinn.
Kerr and the Warriors exacted their revenge on the Cavs when they rolled over them en route to the 2017 NBA title.
So perhaps Quinn and Co. will get another shot at Tom Brady and the Pats come February.
Thumbnail photo via David Richard/USA TODAY Sports Images
